This is the perfect guacamole recipe you've been looking for! It has delicious, vibrant flavors and just the right amount of spice. This is a great healthy appetizer that is sure to impress.
Guacamole is one of life's most wonderful foods. But, making the perfect guacamole can seem a bit overwhelming when you're just getting started out.
It's a great way to get some healthy fats into your diet, similar to this Olive Tapenade or any of these avocado recipes.
All it takes to make The Perfect Guacamole is a few fresh ingredients and some simple guidelines. Let me walk you though it.
In This Post You'll Find:
Reasons You'll Love It
- Quick prep time - just takes 10 minutes.
- Avocados are delicious and healthy.
- Creamy and the perfect spiciness.
- It's Vegan, Paleo, Low-Carb, Gluten-Free and Keto.
Watch Me Make The Perfect Guacamole
Ingredient Notes For The Perfect Guacamole
Chunky or Smooth?
How do you like your guacamole? I like my avocados on the smoother side and to get the chunkiness from the other ingredients. To make your avocados smooth, take a fork to the avocados and mash them down to your desired texture.
Tomatoes or No Tomatoes?
Personally, I can't imagine a world without adding fresh, diced tomatoes to my guacamole. But, I realize not everyone agrees with me. Just be sure to dice them small enough so they don't overpower the more mellow avocados. And, please, use fresh, ripe, and crisp tomatoes.
Red, White, or Yellow Onion
My simple answer is, "Yes, please." But, in general, I use red onions. Each variety of onion adds a different dimension to the avocado. Your taste buds will probably prefer one over the other. Red and yellow onions will offer a sweeter, non-obtrusive flavor, while white onions will have more of a sharp bite.
Lemon or Lime?
Not only will adding some freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice help keep your guacamole from turning brown, but it will also perfectly cut the richness of the avocados and marry the flavors beautifully. That's right: marry. However, I'm always partial to using lime in my Mexican dishes, and guacamole is no exception.
Only Use Ripe, Perfect Avocados
This isn't a question but more of a guideline. Too often, people think they can use old, mushy avocados in their guacamole. Think again, I beg you. Great guacamole starts with perfectly ripe avocados.
You can check for ripeness by gently pressing the outside of the avocado. No give at all means the avocado is not ripe yet and will not taste good. A little bit of give means the avocado is ripe. However, a lot of give, and that means the avocado may be past ripe and should not be used.
How To Make The Perfect Guacamole
Step 1: In a medium bowl, gently mash the avocados to the desired consistency using the back of a fork. Leave it slightly lumpy.
Step 2: Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl.
Step 3: Lightly stir to combine the ingredients.
Step 4: Serve the guacamole immediately or store it in the refrigerator, covered with saran wrap.
Why save making guacamole for special occasions, like parties and the Superbowl? Homemade guacamole is delicious, healthy, and ridiculously easy to make. We make it quite often since everyone in the house loves it. This is especially true if we have some cassava tortilla chips lying around.
Perfect Guacamole Goes Well With:
- Chips: Whether you're talking regular chips, baked pita chips, homemade corn tortilla chips, these homemade sweet potato chips, or even herb crackers. Chips are probably most people's go-to choice for what to eat with guacamole.
- Veggies: are one of my personal favorites. I usually use carrots, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes, but I will also occasionally use celery or broccoli.
- Toast: Perfect avocado toast is all the rage these and rightfully so it is delicious.
- Wraps or Sandwiches: Wraps or sandwiches are a great choice to add a little guacamole to, like this Turkey, Avocado and Hummus wrap just swap the hummus for some guac. You can also top on quinoa taco bowls, cauliflower burgers, and chicken burrito bowls.
More Healthy Appetizers
- Homemade Pimento Cheese Spread (That's Shockingly Healthy!)
- Kalamata Olive Tapenade
- Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Grilled Chicken Wings With Yogurt Ranch Dip
- Crispy Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp Jalapeno Poppers Recipe with Cilantro Lime Dipping Sauce
The Perfect Guacamole
Equipment
*This post may contain affiliate links for products I use often and highly recommend.
Ingredients
- 4 cups ripe avocados about 3 large avocados peeled and pitted
- 1 cup vine-ripened tomatoes about 1 ½ medium tomatoes finely diced
- ⅓ cup red onion about ½ small red onion finely diced
- ¼ cup cilantro about 10 sprigs roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice about 1 lime
- 1 tablespoon jalapeño about ⅓ of a small jalapeño minced
- 1 teaspoon garlic about 1 large clove minced
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, gently mash the avocados to the desired consistency using the back of a fork. Leave it slightly lumpy.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl.
- Lightly stir to combine.
- Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator, covered with saran wrap.
Dustin
Love this guac we make it ever Fantasy Football Draft!
Eric
To keep with the theme, I add agave nectar to my guacamole to make it a little sweet.
Mark
Great work. I really like red onion in my guac. Thanks for the post.
Lacey Baier
Thanks, Mark! You're very welcome 🙂
Lelah
I love guacamole and this recipe looks fantastic. It has all my favorite things - avocado, onions and cilantro. I love the idea of adding some cumin! Have you ever tried adding a pinch of brown sugar? I usually add it to balance out the acid of the lemon or lime juice and the salt.
Lacey Baier
Hi Lelah! No, I've actually never heard of adding brown sugar to guacamole -- I'll have to try that out sometime. Very interesting! Thanks for stopping by 🙂